The Ballerina and the Gypsy Boy
by misstris1221
Summary: Madam Giry's story, only more in depth. Not my best. One shot.


**A/N: We all know the short version of Madam Giry's story. I decided to expand it a little. Please R&R! You can even go check out my other Phics!  
**

_It was years ago. There was a traveling fair in the city. Gypsies…._

She'd never seen anything like it. There were so many colors. The number of people that had come into the city on the gypsy wagons was amazing. Though the young woman was hardly sure these creatures were to be considered people.

She had been warned about the gypsies as a child by her elders. Thieves, beggars...Nevertheless, the ballet troop had decided to go out. They were just too curious.

To be honest, the girl had yet to see the appeal. These people were terrifying! Everywhere she turned there was another sideshow freak: a bearded lady, a man that could stretch his skin every which-way, a fire eater…

She truly just wished to leave.

_I was very young, studying to be a ballerina. One of many. Living in the dormitories of the opera house. _

"Come on, Antoinette!"

Startled, Antoinette spun around to find her friend Elizabeth, with a huge grin on her face. "What is it?" She was almost afraid to ask.

"You must come see!" She grabbed her friend's hand and dragged her away. Antoinette protested but went unheard.

The captive girl read the sign, before she heard the man.

**Come…Come…Come inside…Come and see the Devil's Child! **

Fear struck her. She knew it couldn't actually be the devil's child, but what horrible creature could be deemed such a thing?

"Elizabeth…I don't think-" She said softly, slipping her hand out of Elizabeth's. The fat, greasy man was scary enough! She didn't want to go any closer.

"Come on, scaredy-cat!" Her friend teased, bounding inside. Antoinette sighed and hesitantly followed her group into the tent, knowing no good could be behind the flaps.

She felt terror as she slunk in behind the large crowd. What kind of abomination could be in here?

The group approached a large cage with a small figure hunched over in the center of it. It didn't take Antoinette long to realize it was a small boy.

An actual _child. _This was no demon or monster.

She pushed her way to the front, to get a proper look. He couldn't be more than ten! The thin child sat curled up with a toy monkey on his lap and his head covered in a burlap sack.

She took a sharp intake of breath. What was going on?

The boy turned his head toward the ballerina, as if sensing her. She felt a chill go through her at his gaze.

"**Behold, Madam and Monsieur the devil's child!" **

The large man bellowed. He harshly ripped off the burlap sack to reveal a small, malnourished boy. Most of the boy's face was red and blotchy with veins showing over it. One of his eyes was droopy and sad looking with no eyebrow. The man held him up by the arm, to be sure that the crowd would get its money's worth.

Shamefully, he tried to cover his face with his hands.

The crowd laughed at his ugliness and his pathetic life. The disgusting gypsy dropped him harshly. He then began to kick him and beat him with a whip, as if the boy was fighting him. The boy fell on his side and cringed in the corner.

The audience roared in excitement.

She felt sick. He was caged like an animal and being put on display for the amusement of others when he had most likely been born that way. Tears sprang up in her eyes.

When the beating stopped and the boy put the sack back over his face, the crowd started to disperse, whispering animatedly. She hesitantly followed them, lagging behind until she was alone in the doorway. Oh how she hated to leave him! Antoinette listened in disgust to the evil man chuckling, as he picked up his coins. Then, he suddenly stopped with a gasp.

The girl turned around in curiosity and froze.

The imprisoned boy was strangling his captor with a rope. Her eyes went wide as she watched. Antoinette knew she could move. There was a moment where she could have called out for help or stopped the boy. But the little dancer didn't move.

She watched the man fall to the ground with a sick "_thud_". Antoinette's eyes met the small cut out eye-holes of the boy as they stood there appraising each other for a moment.

They both looked at the entrance of the tent as people gathered for the next show, and noticed the dead gypsy.

_**Murderer! Murderer!**_

The police swiftly came to the outside of the tent.

_**Which way?**_

Antoinette's eyes grew wide. She couldn't let them find him! He was only a boy protecting himself! He could even be put to death for this. This was her chance! She could do something to help him!

She wasted no time.

"Quick!" She grabbed his wrist and dragged him out the back of the tattered old tent. They ran through the back streets of Paris to the only place she knew to go.

She just hoped her idea was a good one.

_**There! **_

_**He's getting away!**_

She heard the mob turning into the alley behind them.

Surprisingly, he didn't fight back at all. He seemed to trust her to take him some place safe, even if she didn't exactly trust herself. "_Perhaps he has no other options"_, she thought sadly.

The Opera Populaire loomed, dark and dormant this late at night. However, Antoinette was still worried that someone might catch her and the boy in the front entrance. Then, she spotted the perfect way in.

The iron bars of the lower windows screeched in protest, and she was afraid people might hear them. Luckily, no one came to investigate.

No words were spoken between the two, but he made it in swiftly and disappeared.

_I hid him from the world…and its cruelties. _

Antoinette raced through the front doors and down to the basement to find him. She hoped he wasn't too scared down there, by himself. However, she figured he had been through worse.

When she arrived down in the chapel, he was looking around.

"Where are we?" He sounded curious, mostly.

The first thing Antoinette noticed was his voice. It was so smooth, yet held a promise of becoming deeper in the future. It was oddly soothing in this situation and made her almost smile.

"The Opera Populaire. The chapel, specifically" she answered. "Though I am not sure where to take you from here…" Grabbing his hand, she led him down a nearby hallway. He didn't answer. He just followed obediently.

After a minute of walking, the ballerina looked over, "You can take the sack off now. No one will find you". She gave a gentle smile.

The boy made no motion to do so. "You saw me murder him" It wasn't a question. In fact, it sounded more like an accusation.

"Yes" she nodded, not sure where this was going.

"But you didn't try to stop me" He stated. It seemed like he was trying to put the pieces together.

There was a pause. "That man had no right to do that to you; he deserved what he got" She even surprised herself with those words. Antoinette gave a quick glance over, realizing "what he got" had been from the bony masked child beside her.

"Why did you hide me?" His voice remained flat.

"You shouldn't die for protecting yourself" Antoinette answered, as if it was obvious.

He didn't respond.

"You don't deserve how he was treating you. No one does" She looked back over at the strange boy, who was facing straight ahead. "Please, you can take the sack off now"

She could feel the mistrustful look coming from him.

"Isn't it uncomfortable?"

Silence.

She sighed. "As you wish. Oh, I'm sorry I haven't even asked your name! I'm Antoinette Giry. And you are?" She beamed at him.

He was quiet for so long she was wondering if he would answer but she finally heard him softly murmur, "Erik"

Hearing his name, for some reason, made the reality of the situation set in. Antoinette realized how protective of this boy she had become already. He was her responsibility. Her smile slowly faded and her voice became serious, "I promise you're safe here. I won't let anyone find you"

A quiet voice answered, "I know"


End file.
